The six elements of human behavior that drive social media

You have to love a person who describes herself as somebody who studies “the dark side of Customer Management.” Ana Isabel Canhoto is just such as person. An instructor at Oxford Brookes University, Ana is a Twitter friend who recently shared with me highlights of a speech by Paul Fennemore, a Managing Partner at Viapoint.

Fennemore contends that every social media strategist needs to consider six aspects of human behavior if they are to understand the drivers of social media. Social Media may be a relatively recent technological phenomenon, but the behavioral drivers that explain why and how the various platforms are used are old. This post explains, in very basic terms, these six key drivers: altruism, hedonism, homophily, memetics, narcissism and tribalism.

Altruism

The unselfish devotion to the welfare of others. Application: Social network users readily share information with other users. They share information simply because they believe it may be helpful. This behaviour occurs even when the users do not know who benefits from the information being shared. Example: A study showed that altruism is a primary reason why many travelers selflessly share experiences to help others have a more enjoyable vacation.

Hedonism

A belief that pleasure is the main — or only — goal in life Application: Hedonism can affect social media in two ways: 1) People use social media because doing so is an enjoyable activity. 2) People use social media because it provides a novel way of accessing activities that give them pleasure, such as meeting people. Example: To the dismay of idealists, research shows that young people are usually not using the social web to change the world. They are using it to experience a digital nirvana of a vast supply of movies, music, instant communication and of course, sexual opportunity.

Homophily

The tendency of human beings to associate with others similar to them. “Birds of a feather flock together.” Application: People tend to join and become attached to social networks whose users share similar interests or beliefs. Example: There are many recent studies revealing the power of peer recommendations on purchasing behavior and product discovery.

Memetics

The replication of ideas, habits and beliefs across individuals. Commony known as a “meme.” Application: For a marketing message to go viral, it will need to exhibit the following characteristics: 1) be assimilated by a social media user 2) be retained in that user’s memory; 3) be replicated by the user in a way that is observable by other users; 4) be transmitted to other users (who, in turn, assimilate, retain and further replicate the message). Example: Here are some of the best Internet memes of 2011.

Narcissism

Excessive fascination with oneself. Application: Social networks provide an outlet for individuals to engage in self-promotion. Specifically, research suggests that Facebook users are more likely to be extraverted and narcissistic. Example: Recent research from the University of Georgia showed that narcissisistic personalities had higher levels of social activity in the online community and more self-promoting content. Strangers who viewed the Web pages of these users judged the page owners to be more narcissistic.

Tribalism

A person’s strong feeling of identity and loyalty towards a specific group (the tribe). A person derives social value from participating in that community. Application: Social media enables continued interactions between supporters of a brand, and between the consumers and the companies, thus increasing engagement. Example: Reseach in the U.K. shows that restaurants and hotel chains who successfully make customers feel part of an exclusive clan engender loyalty. Tribe members want to contribute to the success of the tribe.

What other key drivers of human behavior would you add to this list? What motivates YOU to use the social web?

I’m not sure where it would belong on your list but I believe curiousity, if not a behavioral element in itself, is at least a key motivational factor.

As both a content creator and a content consumer, curiousity is the catalyst for most of my social media behavior.

I believe that content created by an altruist, hedonist, homophilist,, memetist (or is it memeticist?), narcissist, tribalist or B2B marketing fanatic is most likely to influence behavior when it sparks curiousity.

I loved the point of tribalism! But then again I feel, people have their own adjustment and have varied traits and moods. And that may apply for the blogging world. What might work for others, might not work for you. We need to find our identity and then it along from there.

Lisa

What’s interesting is how social media is making these diametrically opposed (and historically negative) behaviors more acceptable. Talking incessantly about what I like or don’t like used to be considered rude at worst and boring at best. But sharing my preferences on Facebook somehow benefits the greater good. Focusing solely on hedonistic impulses used to be viewed as selfish and undisciplined. Not so if I publish them to Twitter so others can associate with me and my pleasure. Fascinating to see this confluence of technology, media and social morays at work.

Yes, this makes good sense. A great deal of my activity on the social web is driven by either curiosity or seeking knowledge. Curious that curiosity wasn’t mentioned. I think that probably drove a lot of the “Charlie Sheen” traffic a few months ago : ) Thanks Billy!

Thanks so much for this post! I was pleased to see Ana break down what many see as negative or annoying behaviours and look at the common human needs behind them. People of all sorts use social media to reach out to others, to know that they have a voice and hopefully that voice will be heard. I also think it would be wise to take these trait descriptors and look critically at social media marketing- is a brand trying to achieve anything different through their social media interactions? I think not. Thank you Mark and Ana for this.

Hreczek

The impact of social media on cognitive dissonance (CD) theory explained! No wonder social psychologists routinely study our desire to seek and create consistency as it is related to CD. ~H.

Facebook has become meme city. All memes, All the time! Somebody told me that FB is becoming a place for photos and videos. The reall conversations are taking place on Twitter. i think that makes sense.

good article. there’s also the sort of ‘mutual possesion’ factor – ie all of the above behaviours are contained within each other. For example narcissitic tribalism – the need to belong juxtaposed with the need to feel significant within a group etc.

This is great Mark! A dear friend of mine gave a presentation about this at Ignite Boulder, a type of TedX and it was so well received. Narcissism is an ‘ugly’ word but it’s out there in the twitter/facebooksphere! Better to admit things than denying them. 🙂

Altruism, to me feels like the foundation of it. It feels good to help out and give advice… since we all think we are an expert in one way or another. And travel is the first things that came to mind before I finished the paragraph. I spend time among the travel blogs and it’s amazing the amount of sharing that goes on in personal blogs and in tweets. cheers!

tianakai

Great point… this reminds me of a quote I recently read (don’t know the origin) “Twitter makes me want to have drinks with people I’ve never met, and Facebook makes me want to throw drinks at people I already know.”

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